Game Theory vs. Business Ethics

2014 ◽  
pp. 213-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Tran
Keyword(s):  
Game Theory ◽  
Business Ethics ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Moral Philosopher ◽  
John Von Neumann ◽  
Von Neumann ◽  
Economic Behaviour ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Relationship

In 1954, the British philosopher Richard Braithwaite gave his inaugural lecture, Theory of Games as a Tool for the Moral Philosopher. Braithwaite predicted game theory would fundamentally change moral philosophy. However, in hindsight, John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern’s publication of Theory of Games and Economic Behaviour was the moment modern game theory entered the discipline of ethics. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the relationship between game theory and business ethics. In other words, this chapter explains how game theory plays a role in business ethics and affects business ethics for emerging economies and covers in detail: 1) the history of game theory; 2) types of/definition(s) of games; 3) business ethics; 4) business; and 5) ethics. The chapter concludes with the role that game theory and business ethics play in emerging economies.

Game Theory vs. Business Ethics

2015 ◽  
pp. 1849-1872
Author(s):  
Ben Tran
Keyword(s):  
Game Theory ◽  
Business Ethics ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Moral Philosopher ◽  
John Von Neumann ◽  
Von Neumann ◽  
Economic Behaviour ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Relationship

In 1954, the British philosopher Richard Braithwaite gave his inaugural lecture, Theory of Games as a Tool for the Moral Philosopher. Braithwaite predicted game theory would fundamentally change moral philosophy. However, in hindsight, John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern's publication of Theory of Games and Economic Behaviour was the moment modern game theory entered the discipline of ethics. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the relationship between game theory and business ethics. In other words, this chapter explains how game theory plays a role in business ethics and affects business ethics for emerging economies and covers in detail: 1) the history of game theory; 2) types of/definition(s) of games; 3) business ethics; 4) business; and 5) ethics. The chapter concludes with the role that game theory and business ethics play in emerging economies.

Do Prudent Agents Play Lotteries? Von Neumann's Contribution to the Theory of Rational Behavior

2006 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Giocoli
Keyword(s):  
Game Theory ◽  
Set Theory ◽  
100Th Anniversary ◽  
Economic Behavior ◽  
Rational Behavior ◽  
John Von Neumann ◽  
Von Neumann ◽  
Balanced Growth ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Fixed Point Techniques

The year 2003 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of John von Neumann (1903–1957), one of greatest geniuses of the last century. Beyond contributing to fields as diverse as set theory, quantum mechanics, atomic energy, and automatic computing, von Neumann has also had a decisive influence upon modern economics. From the invention of game theory to the axiomatization of expected utility, from the introduction of convex analysis and fixed-point techniques to the development of the balanced growth model, the von Neumann heritage can be clearly traced in several areas of our discipline. The aim of this paper is to clarify the relationship between the two concepts of rationality he devised in his classic 1944 book Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, written with the collaboration of the Austrian economist Oskar Morgenstern (von Neumann and Morgenstern 1953).

Game Theory and the History of Ideas about Rationality: An Introductory Survey

1993 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann E. Cudd
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Game Theory ◽  
Instrumental Rationality ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Theoretical Physics ◽  
John Von Neumann ◽  
Von Neumann ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Rational Interaction

Although it may seem from its formalism that game theory must have sprung from the mind of John von Neumann as a corollary of his work on computers or theoretical physics, it should come as no real surprise to philosophers that game theory is the articulation of a historically developing philosophical conception of rationality in thought and action. The history of ideas about rationality is deeply contradictory at many turns. While there are theories of rationality that claim it is fundamentally social and aims at understanding and molding all facets of human psychological life, game theory takes rationality to be essentially located in individuals and to concern only the means to achieve predetermined ends. Thus, there are some thinkers who have made important contributions to this history who do not appear in the story of game theory at all, among them, Plato, Kant, and Hegel. There is, however, a clear trail to follow linking theories of instrumental rationality from Aristotle to the nineteenth-century marginalist economists and ultimately to von Neumann and Morgenstern and contemporary game theorists, that historically grounds game theory as a model of rational interaction.

Introduction: Game Theory and Business Ethics

1999 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Vanderschraaf
Keyword(s):  
Game Theory ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Mathematical Theory ◽  
Economic Behavior ◽  
The Other ◽  
Moral Philosopher ◽  
John Von Neumann ◽  
Von Neumann ◽  
Telephone Conversation ◽  
Inaugural Lecture

In 1954, Richard Braithwaite chose as the topic of his inaugural lecture at Cambridge The Theory of Games as a Tool for the Moral Philosopher. Braithwaite argued that by using the recently developed mathematical theory of games, philosophers could resolve certain problems in moral philosophy previously considered unsolvable. Formal game theory is a product of the twentieth century. John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern established game theory as an important new branch of social science with the publication of their 1944 treatise Theory of Games and Economic Behavior. However, the basic idea that motivates game theory has much older intellectual roots in the work of philosophers such as Hobbes (1651) and Hume (1740). This basic idea can be expressed in the following way: How agents behave in a given social interaction depends crucially upon their reciprocal expectations. To give an example adapted from Braithwaite’s lecture, if you and I wish to have a telephone conversation, then exactly one of us must call. I should wait for your call precisely when I expect you to call, which you should do when you expect me to wait. Even in an example this simple, issues of fairness can come into play. We both want to coordinate our behavior and have our telephone chat. But each of us may prefer to call, so as to avoid having the other pay for the call. Braithwaite used game theory to model this example, and to propose a method for assigning the roles of caller and receiver equitably. He conjectured that this method could be applied in general to problems of distributive justice.

John von Neumann and the Evolutionary Growth of Complexity: Looking Backward, Looking Forward

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry McMullin
Keyword(s):  
Subsequent Development ◽  
Early Death ◽  
Problem Situation ◽  
John Von Neumann ◽  
Von Neumann ◽  
Comprehensive Theory ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
To Come ◽  
Evolutionary Growth

In the late 1940s John von Neumann began to work on what he intended as a comprehensive “theory of [complex] automata.” He started to develop a book length manuscript on the subject in 1952. However, he put it aside in 1953, apparently due to pressure of other work. Due to his tragically early death in 1957, he was never to return to it. The draft manuscript was eventually edited, and combined for publication with some related lecture transcripts, by Burks in 1966. It is clear from the time and effort that von Neumann invested in it that he considered this to be a very significant and substantial piece of work. However, subsequent commentators (beginning even with Burks) have found it surprisingly difficult to articulate this substance. Indeed, it has since been suggested that von Neumann's results in this area either are trivial, or, at the very least, could have been achieved by much simpler means. It is an enigma. In this paper I review the history of this debate (briefly) and then present my own attempt at resolving the issue by focusing on an analysis of von Neumann's problem situation. I claim that this reveals the true depth of von Neumann's achievement and influence on the subsequent development of this field, and further that it generates a whole family of new consequent problems, which can still serve to inform—if not actually define—the field of artificial life for many years to come.

‘If They Say Bomb at One O’clock …’

2019 ◽  
pp. 199-230
Author(s):  
Alan Bollard
Keyword(s):  
Game Theory ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Manhattan Project ◽  
Mathematical Approach ◽  
John Von Neumann ◽  
Von Neumann ◽  
Dynamic Economy ◽  
Atom Bomb ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Cold War

In Japan conventional bombing had not proved sufficient: it was the atom bomb that ultimately brought surrender. The brilliant Hungarian mathematician John von Neumann had worked on the Manhattan Project and identified Hiroshima as a bombing target. He went on to design computers that helped build bigger bombs. In addition he developed an original mathematical approach to modelling a dynamic economy that helped economists advance their modelling. With the Cold War looming, he and colleague Oskar Morgenstern pioneered the new subject of game theory which the big powers used to model their post-war defence tactics, and led to the classic 1950s strategy of ‘mutually-assured destruction’.

Explaining the Long Peace

2019 ◽  
pp. 145-160
Author(s):  
Frank C. Zagare
Keyword(s):  
Game Theory ◽  
Interstate Conflict ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Conflict Behavior ◽  
John Von Neumann ◽  
Von Neumann ◽  
Incorrect Prediction ◽  
Game Theoretic ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Thomas Schelling

This chapter addresses the charge made by some behavioral economists (and many strategic analysts) that game theory is of limited utility for understanding interstate conflict behavior. Using one of perfect deterrence theory’s constituent models, a logically consistent game-theoretic explanation for the absence of a superpower conflict during the Cold War era is provided. As well, the chapter discusses a prescription based on an incorrect prediction attributed to John von Neumann, one of the cofounders of game theory. It also examines a logically inconsistent explanation of the long peace offered by Thomas Schelling, the game theorist many consider the most important strategic thinker in the field of security studies. The argument is made that a predictively inaccurate or logically inconsistent game model in no way undermines the utility of game theory as a potentially powerful methodological tool.

Game-Theoretic Insights Concerning Key Business Ethics Issues Occurring in Emerging Economies

2015 ◽  
pp. 34-55
Author(s):  
Duane Windsor
Keyword(s):  
Game Theory ◽  
Business Ethics ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Corporate Values ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Sustainable Business Models ◽  
Game Theoretic

This chapter identifies some game-theoretic insights concerning several key issues of business ethics typically occurring in emerging economies. The chapter explicates four elements in this sequence: nature of game theory, characteristics of emerging economies, fundamentals of business ethics, and key business ethics issues. The chapter emphasizes useful insights of game theory rather than undertaking formal modeling (examples are noted in references). Game theory assists reasoning about strategic scenarios for businesses. A multinational entity operates within layers of institutions and norms from the international to the national and sub-national levels. Such institutions and norms help structure the complex environment within which a multinational entity operates. The approach in this chapter is to inquire into certain specific decision scenarios available in the extant literature as instances of important classes of decision problems and to suggest game-theoretic responses. These scenarios concern long-term sustainable business models, corporate values, and corporate reputation.

scholarly journals Game Theory: An approach through history and its applications

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 138
Author(s):  
W. A. V. Souza ◽  
M. C. Malavazi
Keyword(s):  
Game Theory ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Nobel Prize ◽  
Economic Behavior ◽  
Mathematical Approach ◽  
John Von Neumann ◽  
Von Neumann ◽  
Knowing That ◽  
The Game Theory ◽  
Arbitrary Decision

Game Theory is a mathematical approach to the study of decision making between individuals when each outcome depends on the decisions of others, ie, one should not make an arbitrary decision, but decide based on what they think the decision of their "opponent" will be, knowing that they think the same. Developed by John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern in 1944 in the book Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, it had been very contested since its launch, but the works of a genius named John Nash, winner of the Nobel Prize in economics in 1994, ended these contestations. This work shows that the Game Theory was not limited to the field of economics, but expanded to other areas, such as biology, explaining strategies used by species to survive. As results are presented more than ten models based on the principles of Game Theory, among them the Prisoner's Dilemma, Ice Cream Vendors Game, Clean City Law and Warning Song between Bird.

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